When The Red Moon Rises
by AngelSamantha
Summary: Zell, after surviving horror, has to tell Squall what happened to the three other cadets that were with him. R&R, please.
1. Prologue

Hi. This is my first fanfic in a long time. I hope you enjoy it. This is the prologue of a hopefully long piece of fiction about Zell and maybe one or two others. Let me know who you think it should be. I'm leaning towards a straight coupling later on, but it can be slash too. Please suggest. I know this isn't a great author intro, but I'm just trying a rusty art that I used to have fun with. Oh, and I am taking down some of my old fan fiction due to embarrassment that I have encountered over the course of rereading them. This one is different. Please try it out and review. Thank you.

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVIII. If I did, there would be a lot different, especially who the main female was.

When The Red Moon Rises

By: Angel Samantha

Zell walked down the shiny, circular hallways of Balamb Garden. He was actually silent, hands in his pockets. His usually vibrant eyes were downcast to the ruby-carpeted floor. He heard noise flow around him in a cluttered mess, unable to distinguish one voice from another. It was late. He was supposed to be out on a mission, but it had ended miserably, and he was going to have to tell Squall. How could he? Squall would murder him for what he done, but he'd have to wait in line because Zell wanted to kill himself first. How could he have been so stupid…? Why did he even accept this mission? Because it was supposed to be a very simple mission, perfect for those who just passed the SeeD test like Rinoa and her companions just had. They had passed together. Even thought Rinoa was a sorceress and had helped save the world, she insisted that she pass the exam just like everyone else had to. She had the most problems with scouting missions. Zell felt himself smile sadly despite himself as he remembered how Rinoa had failed so many spying missions. She must have always had Zone spy for her when she was 'Princess'. He sighed again, thinking about what had just happened.

His shoes squeaked as he entered the elevator. His fingers were trembling as he pulled them out of his pocket to press the third floor button. Zell sighed as the room started to move him upwards. They all had depended on him. All three of the girls… And what had he done…? He let them be slaughtered. He, the leader, had led them into the depths of Hell, only to have him rise above it. He wasn't worthy of it. He should be dead. Why did they want him to live? Dammit. This wasn't fair. He went to kick the wall, but stopped shy as the door opened in front of him. He sighed. The brown-haired man looked up from his desk to see the short blonde standing in the elevator.

"Zell? You should… Where is Rinoa?" Squall growled in his normal ice-cold tone. Zell made sure to carefully avoid his gaze. The commander knew something was wrong. The hyper man looked drained of the pure energy he usually radiated past the point of annoyance.

"About that…" The blonde shuffled his feet nervously, but before he could finish, the elevator doors slid open, allowing a man with a long white trench coat to enter the room.

"Why are you here, chicken-wuss?" Seifer teased, leaning against the wall next to the doorway, looking at Zell's back. The short man turned around and looked at Seifer dead in the eye.

"Shut the fuck up, Almasy. I'm not in the damn mood," Zell hissed, his dull voice barely lighting up with anger. Seifer raised an eyebrow and backed off, just out of the shock of the blonde's dead sapphire eyes.

"What happened to Rinoa, Zell?" Squall repeated with more fury than before. Zell winced and looked down again at his shuffling feet. Seifer listened carefully to Zell's next and probably last words.

"She's dead, Squall…"


	2. Chapter 1: Ultima Weapon

Well, hopefully, someone is waiting for this! Chapter 1 is finally up! Hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or its characters. I do own Mel and her sister Nina.

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When The Red Moon Rises

By: Angel Samantha

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"What do you mean she's DEAD!" Squall exclaimed, jumping up. Seifer's eyes widened at the thought. Rinoa… Dead…? His first love was dead…? Zell sighed, scrubbing his face raw with the back of his right glove, trying to keep himself from crying again.

"Yeah… Dead… She took a lot before she died. I was surprised she could take so much…" the short blonde mumbled, blue eyes still dead and haunting.

"Explain… Before I cut you in half, Dincht," the angry commander whispered, which was far more frightening than any yell would have been. Zell winced at being referred to by his last name, but opened his mouth to explain anyway.

Flashback

"So, we have to just scout this area and, like, kill all the monsters, right, Zell?" A young teenage girl asked, bouncing from foot to foot. Her wild ruby hair danced around her vibrant face.

"Pretty much. Dammit, just like Squall to give me a lame-ass mission!" Zell yelled, punching the air. Rinoa sighed, stretching her arms into the air.

"This is all my fault, really," the brunette said, checking over her weapon on her tiny wrist. "Even after everything we've been through, Squall still treats me like a child. He doesn't ever care about my strengths. He only sees my weaknesses… I agreed to this mission, hoping against hope, that he'll finally let me be free and act like a normal SeeD."

"Well, you have no right to blame him, though," the tall bleach blonde woman to Rinoa's right stated calmly. "I remember what he was like before you came. You're all he's got for family and love, girl. Cling onto that and cherish it, even if he smothers you, at least you got the privilege of being smothered by him."

"I… I guess you're right, Mel…" Rinoa sighed. The bouncy girl latched onto Zell's arm, shouting, "Of course, my sister's right! She's awesome at reading peeps! That's why she passed the SeeD exam so easily while the two of us actually had to try."

"Will you please get off of my arm, Nina? We need to get to town before dark," Zell said, doing his best imitation of Squall that his hyper self could muster. The three women with him burst into laughter.

"Hey, Zell…" Rinoa managed to squeak out, "You so cannot do a Squall imitation!"

"Aw, damn, my life's dream is ruined now!" He sniggered. As the four SeeDs made their way to the village, they continued to joke and taunt each other. Zell got along with the three well. They made a good team, but not good enough. When they got near the town, the wind blew cold and warm, almost as if the heat was being sucked out and pushed right back in. Zell looked around anxiously, only to be greeted by the long, evil face of what looked like Ultima Weapon, but that was impossible! Squall, Rinoa, and himself had killed it to get the Eden summon from him and keep him from killing them. Mel and Nina screamed while Rinoa darted in front of them. Neither of them had the experience that Zell and the brunette had built, but flashes of their first battle against this monster were running through both their minds. Only Squall had been conscious after that battle, so how was the beast going to be beaten this time?

"Zell," Rinoa hissed. "Take Mel and Nina back with you to the ship. I can take care of him, but… If I go into 'that mode', I could hurt all of you, so I can't until you are far enough away."

"But, Rinoa! Squall will…" Zell protested. Mel and her little sister had already ran and hid behind him. Rinoa was glowing, wings sprouting out of her back. She glared at him with her dark brown eyes, and yelled, "Now, Zell!" But before he could move, the weapon reached out its huge sword and caught Zell and the two women behind him on its upswing. Zell could feel the sharp blade ripping through his clothes and his skin. He focused carefully and cast his only Ultima on it. The monster dropped the huge sword and the three bodies that had been on it bounced on the ground. Zell, dizzy and losing blood by the second, went to cast Curaga, but then found out he didn't have any. By this time, Rinoa had transformed into her berserk sorceress mode and cast another Ultima, but this one was directed at Zell, Mel, and Nina.

"Rinoa!" Zell yelled, hoping to get through her berserk state, but to no avail. He turned to see Mel and Nina's bodies, still covered in massive raw spots, twisted into Ultima Weapon's right claw. It threw their bodies into the air like rag dolls and chopped down on them as they landed in its mouth. Zell vomited as the two bodies disappeared into its mouth. Rinoa, unleashing a dual attack of Firaga and Blizzaga, took the same sword to the stomach, but her eyes gleamed an evil ruby as she grabbed it and hurled the monster into a nearby tree. The large beast hissed and jumped onto Rinoa's body and clawed at it viciously. Zell launched that the monster, pounding it and kicking it, but to no avail. Another Ultima left Rinoa's body and enveloped Zell and the weapon. The weapon whined louder and collapsed to its knee, crying in pain. Rinoa stood, blood dripping from her right breast that was hanging down from her chest, exposing her heart to the world. Zell felt himself starting to vomit again, but held himself steady as he continued to watch Rinoa cast various spells on Ultima Weapon while it withered in pain.

"Die, foul creature resurrected from Hell. You are no longer needed on this planet," she hissed at the rotting beast. Zell ran over to Rinoa as both she and her nemesis fell to the ground.

"Zell…" Rinoa whispered, eyes turning brown again. "Zell… Squall…" She hacked up blood. "Squall was right… I… I should not have been out here…"

"Rinoa… I… I'm sorry… I failed you… And…. And Mel… And… And…" He was rambling, and he knew it, but he opened his eyes when he felt ice-cold fingers on his cheek and stroking his blonde hair.

"If... If you demand to… To be punished, I… I'll give you my powers… Please… Keep them safe, Zell…" She whispered before her mahogany eyes rolled back into skull. Zell felt a searing pain blaze through his body before collapsing across Rinoa's bloody corpse.

End Flash

"And… The next thing I… I knew, I was in the village, being carefully tended to by its residents…" Zell finished, shuffling his feet some more. Squall glared at him and pounded his fist on the table.

"You expect me to believe that shit, Zell! That Ultima Weapon was resurrected and kill my fiancée?" The commander bellowed, a tear streaming down his cheek. "Why don't you admit you killed her? You were jealous I favored her, weren't you! You always did seem to like me more than normal!" Squall was raving mad by now. It was no surprise to Seifer, who made sure not to let Squall know he was still there, but to Zell, he felt anger and disbelief starting to spark into his soul.

"As if I'd want to kill Rinoa! If I wanted to get power or a partner, I'd have killed you, Squall! Dammit! Rinoa was my damn friend too!" Zell stomped over to Squall and picked him up by the collar with one hand. Squall and Seifer both looked at Zell with surprise.

"Squall. I know what happened. I told you what happened. Now, if I'm correct, Mr. Commander, we need to figure out why it happened," he hissed. Seifer coughed.

"Zell, put him down. Both of you need to calm down!" Seifer demanded, stepping towards the two. Zell glared at Seifer and flung Squall at him, sending them both through the door and into the elevator. Zell's eyes widened in shock. When had he gotten so powerful, and what the hell had he just done to Squall?


End file.
